The Tripwires and Clare & The Reasons

powerpopaholic Highly Recommended by Powerpopaholic

The Tripwires “House To House”

Ex-Model Rockets leader and Minus 5 guitarist, John Ramberg leads an all-star trio of Seattle veterans including Mark Pickerel (Screaming Trees) and Jim Sangster (Young Fresh Fellows). The Tripwires latest is a clinic in classic guitar rhythms and first class hooks. It’s deceptively easy to listen to and enjoy from the opening riffs of “Drawing A Blank” and not get caught up in the chorus. “Something In A Friday Night” has a bit more of those fast paced beats and pub rock guitar solos that made Seattle a music mecca. There is more than a bit of Rockpile in the mid-tempo ballad “Another Planet Now” and my favorite here, “Ned Beatty’s In Love” full of great bass lines, hand claps and solid harmonies. Fans of early 80’s new wave (Elvis Costello, Squeeze) will appreciate the song composition of “Look At It This Way” and the incredible lyrical honesty in the slower paced “Soundalike.” They even go Ramones meets Dave Edmunds on the last track “Dismantled.” It’s one of those albums that makes time fly – and then you’ll just want to hit repeat on your player. Honestly, every single track is a winner here and essential listening for the power pop fan.

MySpace | Amazon | Kool Kat Musik | Not Lame


Clare & The Reasons “Arrow”

Brooklyn’s own Clare & The Reasons had a strong melodic streak on 2007’s The Movie. The combination of Clare Muldaur’s sweet vocal and the light breezy chamber pop make for a charming twee pop confection. Opening to the plucking strings of “All The Wine” is a good lead in to the album’s highlight “Ooh You Hurt Me So.” The Beatlesque touches and ethereal chorus here are just gorgeous. It winds down with a casual whistle and Clare’s vocal coos. More highlights here are “Mellifera” in which a guitar is needed to really bring the song to life. “This is the Story” starts deliberately slow, and then builds with a lush full orchestral texture. But some songs are so numbingly without hooks (“Our Team Is Grand,”) they fade into the wallpaper. The orchestral touches mixed with electronic loops resemble Stereolab on “Murder They Want Murder” are so light and repetitive it could easily lull you to sleep. A horn version of Genesis’ “That’s All” fails to excite and even the last track “Wake Up (You Sleepy Head)” does the opposite of what it’s supposed to do. The albums highlights are definitely worth investigating, the rest of the tunes however make a good auditory sedative. But maybe I’m too critical here, after all the arrangements are exquisite and Clare has one of the sweetest female vocals I’ve ever heard.

power pop reviews, power pop and rock and roll opinions. Power pop and even more power pop and rock and roll.

2 thoughts to “The Tripwires and Clare & The Reasons”

  1. Maybe I wasn't in the right frame of mind (after rockin out to The Tripwires). After a third listen of the album, I will admit "Our Team Is Grand" is better than I gave it credit for. Although the arrangement is excellent, it doesn't stick in your head the way "Mellifera" does, it's more of mash up of 4 musical themes. I disagree on "That's All" – if it doesn't make me forget the original, it hasn't won me over. But in light of this… I will bump my rating up 1.

  2. Wow, I couldn't disagree more, the 1st time I heard 'Our Team Is Grand" I couldn't get it out of my head for days. I think it's a mini opus. I also think the writing and arrangement on "That's All" are brilliantly done. If you listen to the lyrics on "Wake Up" you'll see it's supposed to be a gentile wake up song, kind of half asleep. You should listen again!

Comments are closed.